What organisations can do to survive after Trump's aid freeze

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to guests from the South Portico of the White House during an event on the South Lawn on June 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. [Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP]

It was April 2025 in Nakuru. From the faces of dozens of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) workers converged from the entire Rift Valley region, one could read raw panic, though varnished with nervous smiles and feeble efforts at exuberance.

A few months prior, US President Donald Trump had issued the infamous executive order, which imposed a sudden 90-day worldwide suspension of practically all US foreign aid disbursed through the United States Aid for International Development (USAID). This meant more than 90 per cent of related contracts and $60 billion in overall US assistance around the world were suspended.